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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Los Altos School District & Khan Academy

It is no
secret that Khan Academy videos have come under fire in recent weeks. As
educators in the Los Altos School District where Salman Khan’s free product was
initially piloted and implemented, we would like to share our experiences
utilizing Khan Academy as an instructional tool in a blended learning
environment. By sharing our experiences, we hope to provide accurate
information on how Khan Academy can be effectively used, clear up a few
misconceptions, and share some of the lessons we have learned on our journey
thus far.

Post
NadiaThe Los
Altos School District entered into a relationship with Sal Khan and his, at
that time, one employee in the fall of 2010 to test the effectiveness of the
Khan Academy, as an instructional tool, in a classroom setting. This
relationship began at a time when our district was beginning to explore how to
individualize the learning experience to better meet students’ needs. A few
teachers in grades 5 and 7 endeavored to pilot the product with their math
students. These teachers met regularly to discuss emerging practices and
worked closely with Khan Academy developers to design data views that would
empower teachers to make valuable instructional decisions. Many of the features
on the data dashboard were created in response to direct requests from our
pilot teachers. In our experience, Khan Academy strives to participate in
an iterative process that embraces feedback from users to improve their tool.
We know that Khan Academy has a number of exciting developments in the
works; the recently launched Computer Science tutorials and programming
capabilities are great examples.

Setting
the Record StraightAfter
Sal’s 2011 TED Talk, our district was bombarded with requests from members of
the media as well as the educational community who wanted to observe the Khan
Academy’s use in the classroom. As a small district, we were unprepared
for this onslaught and did our utmost to share our learning with interested
members of the educational community. These encounters were and continue
to be enlightening for us as we make international connections and learn from
the experiences of other professional educators. Unfortunately, the idea
of flipping the classroom that Sal mentioned in his TED Talk resonated with
many members of the media, and we were unsuccessful in helping some of them
divorce this idea from what they saw in Los Altos. As a result, our
educational philosophy, teaching practices, and Khan Academy implementation
have been misrepresented, in varying degrees, by a few major media outlets.

Beyond
the VideosTeachers
in our district have determined that the greatest value of the Khan Academy
lies, not in the videos, but in the exercise modules and data generated as
students work practice problems. After students set up free accounts and
add their teacher as “COACH,” teachers are able to view student data associated
with the exercise modules in real time. These data sets help track
progress by differentiating between students who are struggling with a
particular concept versus those who are proficient. Los Altos teachers
use this data to inform instructional decisions. Students are encouraged
to take an active role in their learning by accessing their own data during
various metacognitive endeavors thereby increasing student ownership of and
engagement in their math education.

Here are a few things to note about the Khan Academy’s practice modules:

To access the practice modules,
simply click on “PRACTICE” while at the Khan Academy’s site to view the
Knowledge Map of math skills.

While on the Knowledge map, zoom
out to operate in Power Mode. Power Mode provides you with a variety
of problems on a particular topic (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and
dividing decimals). Power Mode is a great way to prove proficiency
on a broader topic, but it can be frustrating for a student who is just
learning a concept.

For more specific practice, zoom
in to see the discrete modules (adding decimals). This is a more
appropriate mode for students needing practice on a particular skill.

The software requires students to
review if a concept has not been practiced after a certain period of time.

Practice modules are similar to
textbook problems. The advantages include the teacher’s access to
data in real time and the student’s ability to receive immediate feedback
and ask for “hints” when stuck.

Students earn energy points,
badges, and leaves when correctly working problems. This is highly
motivating for upper elementary students and some middle and high school
students.

You will notice cognitive leaps
between different modules. We strongly advise that you check out a
module to assess its appropriateness before using it with your class.

There are gaps in the Knowledge
Map, so don’t throw out your textbooks and other practice resources.

Students tend to burn out if Khan Academy practice modules are used daily or for longer than 15-20
minutes at a time.

It is important to differentiate
between proficiency and mastery with regard to Khan Academy’s practice
modules. Proficiency on a particular module is a good first step,
but the student and teacher have a lot more work to do before a concept is
truly mastered.

Blending
LearningWhile we
have experienced success using Khan Academy as an instructional tool, it is
important to note that Khan Academy is not the curriculum, nor is Sal Khan the
teacher. Teachers in Los Altos may choose to “flip the classroom” when
appropriate, but this is not our daily implementation model. While Khan
Academy has attracted the most attention, it is not the major component of math
classrooms in our schools.

Los Altos
teachers are utilizing a blended learning model incorporating various
technological tools, such as Khan Academy’s exercise modules, in addition to
textbooks, manipulatives, projects, problem solving activities, collaborative
endeavors, and other best practices. Teachers capitalize on their
knowledge of grade level standards and math content by selecting the most
appropriate tools and methods of instruction based on the needs of their
students, curricular objectives, and value of the tool. For Los Altos
teachers, no blended learning formula exists. Each lesson is structured
differently to incorporate a variety of engaging learning experiences that
serve to enhance each student’s math education. The beauty of a blended
learning approach to instruction is the relative ease with which teachers are
able to incorporate valuable new teaching tools and to eliminate ineffective
ones without revamping the entire curriculum. This approach keeps math
instruction fresh and the teachers actively involved in the curriculum
development and lesson planning processes.

Video
4-1-1Having
shared how Los Altos teachers are using the Khan Academy, we should take a few
moments to discuss the videos as well. Since our district piloted the
Khan Academy in order to determine its effectiveness in schools, pilot teachers
explored the use of videos with students to some degree and made several
observations:

Sal’s videos seem more effective
when used as a review of previously learned concepts and less impactful,
even considered boring or confusing, when the math concept is new to the
student.

Some videos tend to start at an
elementary level and quickly move to middle or high school material, which
can be frustrating for upper elementary and middle school students.

Many of the worked examples shown
in the videos lack the variety of sample problems a classroom teacher would
typically explore with his/her students.

Students quickly tune out during a
video if they have not been taught active listening skills.

High school-aged students seem to
be better able to follow the 10 minute videos than elementary and middle
school students.

Students tend to prefer to
interact with a live teacher than to listen to a prerecorded video.

The videos are a good resource for
students who need extra support in language acquisition, students with
visual or auditory processing problems, and students struggling with a
concept outside of class time.

Once upon
a time, Sal Khan began creating videos to help his cousin, Nadia, and has
continued making videos in that same vein. Some of his videos serve as
good supplemental resources, others, less so, and none are capable of replacing
a classroom teacher. The videos should be viewed for what they are and
not as what the media often tries to sell.

Benefits
of Using Khan AcademyBased on
a successful pilot during the 2010-2011 school year, the Los Altos School
District implemented the use of Khan Academy in all Grade 5-6 classes and some
Grade 7-8 classes during the 2011-2012 school year. During this full
implementation year, we participated in a study through SRI International, an
independent non-profit research institute, to help determine the effectiveness
of our implementation model with Khan Academy. While we don’t have
official study results yet, great things are happening in our district for
students and some of them are directly related to our use of Khan Academy.
Teachers who have used Khan Academy as an instructional tool, have
rethought their use of instructional time and are spending more time in math
class on less traditional teaching methods effectively changing the student
experience. Students are excited about the use of Khan Academy for
several reasons: They get direct feedback when they are working a set of
problems, they are able to visually see areas where they have excelled in math,
and they are able to take some ownership of their own learning. Students
are motivated in math and are excited to take on new challenges. While
difficult to measure, increased motivation and student ownership are vital to
the process of developing lifelong learners -- part of the mission of our district.

Revolutionizing
LearningThe Los
Altos School District began piloting the Khan Academy because we see the value
in exploring new tools and strategies related to teaching and learning. Our
district is on a mission to revolutionize student learning. This revolution
represents a process of reevaluating the old while vetting the new, and has
taken many forms encompassing ideas such as design thinking, visual learning,
and garden-based education in addition to technology integration.
Teachers are given permission to be risk-takers with regard to their
educational practice and are supported with appropriate equipment, training,
and instructional coaching. District leaders are finding creative ways to
help facilitate collaborative efforts amongst teachers and actively encourage
the sharing of best practices.

Key to
this revolution are the Los Altos teachers. Teachers in our district are
highly valued for their pedagogical perspective, content knowledge, experience,
and creative abilities. When district administrators put tools in the
hands of teachers and give them room to work, amazing things happen for
students. Tools will come and go, but it’s the teachers who create meaningful
learning experiences that challenge students to grow.

10 comments:

I just wanted to say, thank you very much for this enlightening post. It's not too surprising to me that students find the gamified activity tree more compelling than the videos, but it is very interesting to hear the same thoughts coming the schools testing out the Khan Academy on the ground.

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